Synthesis and characterization of poly(carboxymethyl)-cellulose for enhanced La(III) sorption

• Published in: Carbohydrate polymers 2017-02, Vol.157, p.1809-1820
• Main Authors: Tolba, Ahmad A., Mohamady, Said I., Hussin, Shimaa S., Akashi, Takaya, Sakai, Yuka, Galhoum, Ahmed A., Guibal, Eric
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Cellulose; Desorption; Engineering Sciences; FTIR; Lanthanum sorption; Poly(carboxymethylation) of cellulose; Polyaminated cellulose; SEM; Sorption isotherms; TGA; Thermodynamics; Uptake kinetics; XRD
• ISSN: 0144-8617; 1879-1344
• DOI: 10.1016/j.carbpol.2016.11.064

•Poly(carboxymethylated) cellulose and polyaminated cellulose have been synthesized.•Cellulose derivatives have been characterized for confirmation of chemical grafting.•Chemical modification of cellulose increases La(III) sorption efficiency.•La(III) can be desorbed using nitric acid solution and the sorbent can be re-used. The grafting of amino and carboxylic acid groups on cellulose increased La(III) sorption efficiency of cellulose: maximum sorption capacity increased from 38mgLag−1 for cellulose to 101 and 170mgLag−1 for amino derivative (PAC) and amino-carboxylic derivative (PCMC). Langmuir equation successfully fits sorption isotherms while uptake kinetics are effectively modeled using the pseudo-first order rate equation (though resistance to intraparticle diffusion plays a significant role in the control of metal recovery). Uptake equilibrium occurred within 150–180min. The thermodynamic study shows that the reaction is spontaneous, endothermic and entropic. Nitric acid solutions (0.5M concentration) can be efficiently used for metal recovery and sorbent can be recycled for at least 5 cycles with limited decrease in sorption performance for the three sorbents. The materials were characterized by elemental analysis, acid-base titration, FTIR spectrometry, x-ray diffraction analysis, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, SEM-EDX analysis and also by TGA.